Who needs sleep..

Saturday , September 2, 2006 – 4:44

Oh boy. Random Cat has cried all night. Somewhere along the way I did manage to block out the pitiful wailing and get some sleep, but it must’ve started again with renewed vigor at 05:13, as it woke me again.

I dutifully trundled downstairs and fed Mog (first of course) and then returned upstairs with a sachet of food for our guest. Never have I seen food vanish so rapidly.

I had trouble escaping from the room though: every time I went to the door he would rush to me and headbutt me, purr and generally make a fuss. When I did manage to get the door open, he attempted escape. He’s back to the crying now. It would break my heart if I didn’t know that this was definitely for His Own Good. He just doesn’t like being alone in that room: when you are in there with him, he’s happy and purry and catnip-silly with pleasure.

There isn’t room to sleep in there with him; which is good, as I’m just soft-hearted and silly enough to consider that as an option.

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in cats | Comments (0)

Random Excursions

Friday , September 1, 2006 – 19:55

Our local stray, Random Cat, has been accused of having problems with his left eye. Wednesday, it was seen to be leaking pus and ickiness, so this morning he was escorted to the V – E – T.

Now, since I’d had a conversation with my mother-in-law about transport and such, which Random overheard, he hadn’t been back here for food. It got to 06:50 this morning (his appointment was booked for 11:10) before he turned up at the restaurant door. He just cat-loafs outside the back door until someone feeds him, it’s quite endearing.

Anyway, I ceased to leave for work, and assisted in the cat-napping of the tabby individual. This picture shows how terrified he is to be Inside and trapped. It was heart-rending to hear him cry and see how scared he was.
He was duly examined by the Vet and pronounced to have a grass seed wedged in his left eye. Ouch indeed. With the application of a local anaesthetic and the skilful wielding of medical pliers, a removal was attempted. Sadly the seed remained lodged. Should this continue to be the case, an operation will be performed on Monday to remove the offending article. Poor Random.
A bottle of eyedrops was prescribed, with instructions to instil them four times daily. So far, he has one drop administered, and he took it without a whimper. I was impressed.

The decision was made to keep him in the spare room for the weekend, as attempting to locate our Littlest Hobo four times daily would be impossible. He actually seems comfortable and contented, which is a far cry from the expected situation. He is currently happily and purrily curled up in a cat bed and looking ridiculously cute.

I don’t think he’s a stray cat any more.

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in cats, happenings | Comments (0)

Perforation Worries

Friday , August 18, 2006 – 20:33

..are now over. Well, they were over at about 11am on Wednesday, but it has taken me this long to get round to saying thankyou for all the kind wishes from my friends. Thank ye muchly, you lot, it cheered me up no end.

I’ve spent the last couple of days whining and complaining about discomfort and being full of Carbon Dioxide (you get inflated so the surgeon can have a really good look). It is not an experience I wish to repeat.

I’m thoroughly disgusted with myself for being such a wuss – it wasn’t nearly as bad as my imagination had assured me it would be. When I came round I was severely dizzy – worse than my vertigo episode of a few months back – and thrashed around insensibly for a while. Most embarrassing. Once I’d thrown up, I was fine.

Result of the operation was cheering though: all is well in the internet department (my series of tubes is fine).

Had a slight panic today when I realised that I had a temperature, and according to my leaflet from the hospital, this is a Bad Sign. I trundled (very very slowly) to the doctor, who gave me a script for some antibiotics, as an infection would be a Bad Thing.

I’m hot and dizzy now, and have thrown up what I ate for dinner. It’s unclear whether this was the antibiotics disagreeing with me (it wouldn’t surprise me), or just a temperature artifact.

Hopefully all systems will be fully operational shortly, and I can stop feeling sorry for myself :)

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in happenings | Comments (0)

Pre-op Transgressions

Tuesday , August 15, 2006 – 20:50

Yet again I’m stealing wi-fi in order to foist my opinions upon the world. I’m perched upon the sofa of my mother-in-law, fretting and eeking about the fact that I have a very minor operation scheduled for 07.45 tomorrow. Not that I want it to be a major op. I’ve just never been operated on before, and to be perfectly frank, I don’t really want to start.
I’m due to have a laparoscopy to attempt to understand why the manufacture of later versions of philb is failing. And I’m scared stupid.
On the plus side, I’ve just read ‘Some Lovely Islands’ by Leslie Thomas, and the urge to traverse the Wild Places has returned with a vengeance. I miss the loneliness of Mull and the friendliness of Mull, all at the same time. Coming back to Holyport felt like leaving home. But it was good to see the Mogret again.

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in happenings, thoughts | Comments (3)

Standing stones have moved

Tuesday , July 4, 2006 – 15:06

Yesterday we ventured,via bus, to Tobermory. The journey was suitably hair-raising: the road is quite as scary as I remember. It appears that we must cycle it though, as there is a ferry from Tobermory that will take us to Kilchoan on the mainland, and philb wishes to ride around that area. Therefore it is necessary to cycle to Tobermory.
Tobermory was more or less as I remember it; I found myself irritated by the Balamory merchandising everywhere, but, as philb pointed out, visitors have certain expectations and it would be foolish not to cater to them.
We had some nice ice-cream from the Island Bakery, and bimbled up and down the harbour for a while until the last bus back at 2pm.
Today we ventured out shortly after breakfast, aiming to be Doing Things before the heat of midday, but even at 9am it was excessively hot. We walked up the hill above Dervaig, on the Tobermory road and stopped to admire the view. From there, we could see all the way to the sea and the island of Coll in the distance. We entered an eerily-neat conifer forest and were struck by the theatrical placement of some standing stones. Most impressive. Having not taken the map with us, we then blundered around the forest, climbing higher and higher, looking for the further sets of stones but failed to find them. On later perusal of the map, we were actually within a whisker of them, and the hill we were stumbling around on is called Glen Gorm. Struck me as being made mostly of peat bog and insects.
Having been stupidly hot this morning, it is now pleasantly cool and cloudy. We shall venture out to the pub for dinner and then probably walk around the loch.
Incidentally, the local beer is fanastic: we’ve been drinking the Island Pale Ale which is light, delicately-fragrant and most welcome after a hot day. I wonder if it for sale in bottles anywhere, as a quick search of Tobermory’s shops proved fruitless.
Tomorrow we venture to Treshnish and Crackaig, which are further round than Calgary, although I hope to stop for a paddle again.

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in holiday | Comments (0)

Mulling it over

Sunday , July 2, 2006 – 20:08

It is now abundantly clear that the seats on the Caledonian Sleeper are designed for no other purpose than to persuade you to pay, an additional £34 per person, for a berth where there might be a danger of being able to sleep. I can sleep on most train seats, but such was the skill and attention to detail of the designer of these particular seats, that they were uncomfortable in all particulars: the back curved exactly the wrong way to accommodate the human spine; the headrest sloped toward the head, forcing your head forward in a most uncomfortable manner; the spacing between seats was such that there was minimal legroom; and the overall effect was a restlessness, an aching tailbone, a stiff neck and a night devoid of restful sleep.
In such a weary condition did we arrive yesterday in Glasgow, where at 7am we made a beeline for the ticket office and upgraded our return tickets. Another success for the chair designer.
The three hours from Glasgow to Oban were more pleasantly spent – the train was full but spacious enough to allow com
fort. It did, however, arrive slightly late and there was a mad dash for the ferry, where we were loaded on with the cars, which was a little intimidating.
All too soon we arrived at Craignure on Mull and faced the part I had been dreading for months: the 23 mile ride across the island to Dervaig. Either the lack of sleep had rendered me insensible of physical fatigue, or I am in fact fitter than I thought (or indeed, look), but we made it in 2 hours 15, which included several stops to admire scenery. Which isn’t bad really, as parts of the road are quite rough, and almost none of it is flat! I must speak up in praise of panniers: I barely noticed the fact I was carrying 90 litres of luggage, except on the steeper inclines, and am amazed how easy and practical they make holidaying by bicycle.
We were too tired yesterday afternoon (we arrived here at 3pm) to do anything but bathe, eat and sleep. I think it was the promise of a bath that had kept me going up the last few hills.
This morning we arose at 7.30 (although through long habit I had awoken at 05:40 and was surprised to see no Mogret staring at me). Breakfast was consumed and then we started the ride to Calgary Bay. For those that have seen our wedding photos, this was where they were taken. It’s about 5 miles from Dervaig, so it didn’t take too long to get there and we were soon paddling in the sea like a couple of children, splashing and dancing into the waves. We stayed on the beach for a while and then started the ride back to Dervaig. It didn’t take quite so long to get back, as the return journey seemed to be mostly downhill. I honestly didn’t notice the journey there being especially uphilly, but it must have been, as I got up a fair turn of speed on the way back, freewheeling most of it.
Tomorrow we shall venture on the bus to Tobermory, as I do not fancy that road by bike – it is a winding road that cars take far too fast, and I don’t think it cycle-friendly.
I love this house we are staying in: the owner is warm and friendly and the household consists of 2 cats, 2 dogs, numerous chickens and some ducks. There are mushrooms too, but they live elsewhere. In fact, on the cat front I have been especially bless’d as I have met no less than seven cats so far. The two that live here are most delightful.
Our cats are apparently failing to pine for us – we spoke to Phil’s house-sitting mother earlier. There has been an incident of an even randomer cat breaking in through the cat flap; a cat that I had mocked Phil about before as he insisted it had been in the house but we never saw it since so I declared he had dreamed it. Now mum has seen it too. It will have to be discouraged as we only adopt waifs and strays.
Oh dear, it looks like I’m going to have to suffer the sight of another glorious sunset over the loch. Shucks, it’s a hard life..

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in holiday | Comments (0)

State of Police

Sunday , June 25, 2006 – 9:13

I don’t often feel obliged to comment on the news, or highlight a particular item, but this article about police overreaction made me want to scream.

“Ray Markham said footballs had been flying into his garden for years but when one smashed into his greenhouse last month he refused to return it.

The 68-year-old, who lives next to a policeman in Cubbington, said he was then arrested by four Warwickshire Police officers for theft of the ball.”

Legally the man was probably on shaky ground, for refusing to return the ball. By demonstrating intent to permanently deprive, I guess it was technically stealing. (I sure wish I’d known this as a kid – would’ve saved me a fortune!) I would argue though, that breaking his greenhouse was criminal damage and the ball was evidence. The fact that the ball had been kicked into his garden several times previously showed a certain recklessness as to whether damage to Mr Markham’s property might occur.

Regardless of the legal aspects of this, which I suspect can be argued either way by lawyers, the fact remains that a moral wrong has been committed here. If someone accidentally kicked something through my window and broke it, I would have to cheerfully thank them for doing so and return the item that was accidentally launched through my window. I don’t think so!

As a child, I had a very clear idea that if I broke something, I would have to pay for the damage to be fixed, not go and demand the ball back! Ye gods, what chutzpah that would have demanded!

This example of police heavy-handedness, and, dare I say it, misuse of police time – which is, I believe, an offence in itself, has not endeared the Police to me.

This story would have been equally of note, however, had the neighbour not been a Police officer and simply been an ordinary citizen who called the Police. I suspect though that an ordinary citizen would have been ignored, and not received the attention of four Police officers.

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in doom | Comments (0)

Lazy Sunday

Sunday , June 18, 2006 – 8:05

I have to record this momentous occasion: Mogret has let us sleep in! It is now 9am, and I woke before her.

I do hope she’s not broken. She was miowing last night as we were trying to sleep, which isn’t normal for her. She’s purry and friendly this morning and isn’t giving us any clues.

Philb thinks she may have knocked herself unconscious in her attempts to catch a woodpigeon yesterday, but I just don’t know.

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in cats | Comments (0)

Berry nice indeed

Saturday , June 17, 2006 – 19:38
Strawberry

Strawberry,
originally uploaded by Purplekitten.

Owing to an impulsive plant-purchase, we are currently cultivating strawberries.

This is the first of the crop, and hopefully there will be plenty more to follow.

This strawberry was the nicest strawberry I have ever tasted: it was very juicy, deliciously ripe and had the most amazing flavour. All other strawberries will now be found inferior, I fear.

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in thoughts | Comments (0)

Bunnies and bonnets

Thursday , June 15, 2006 – 18:31

Rest easy, I am not temporally displaced, this is not an Easter reference. I merely found myself musing on the sudden insertion of both into my life and wished to comment thereon.

For the previous seven and twenty years of my life, I had remained blissfully unaware of the abundance of rabbits that grace almost every green place I visit. It is but a matter of months since I first became aware of such things, but now it is as if I have become strangely attuned to their presence, as I can detect them wherever I happen to cast my eye. I find also that it never fails to fill me with uncommon delight.

For the same length of time as I had been unaware of the rabbit population at large, I had also been largely ignorant of the pleasures to be experienced when immersing oneself in bonnets. In short, I am currently reading my way through the works of Jane Austen, with almost unalloyed delight.

I have so far, this past week, read Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility. I have but recently begun Northanger Abbey, yet already I find myself vexed and unable to continue reading: it is endlessly apparent that the author is excessively sensible of her audience, and addresses them regularly and in a most familiar manner. I find that this distracts from the enjoyment I might otherwise be deriving from the work, and arouses great distaste that she is so forward in her speech to me; I much prefer not to be reminded with annoying frequency that I am reading a work of fiction.
The offence began almost at once, with an advertisement from the author in the opening pages. I detected a certain air of petulance about the complaints that the publishing of this work was so long awaited as to render the contents obsolete and quaint. I wonder what her thoughts would be on learning that her works are still admired some two hundred years later. Maybe this would have stilled her angry pen and therefore rendered me less irritated with her manner.

By Kathy Bragg | Posted in books, thoughts | Comments (0)